The Weinstein Co. is set to release “Bully” at the end of this month and it has been assigned an R rating by the MPAA. High school student Katy Butler, herself a victim of bullying, is appealing to the MPAA to reduce the rating to PG-13 in order to expose the documentary to a wider audience.

“This film is too important and potentially life-saving to give it an ‘R’ rating that will prevent kids from watching it,” Butler said. “… The stories told in `Bully’ and the experiences that bullied students face each day in schools across America, deserve to be shared with the world.”

Butler has already collected over 200,000 petition signatures and delivered them to the MPAA. However, MPAA representative Joan Graves issued a statement last month saying the rating change is unlikely.

“The rating simply conveys to parents that a film has elements strong enough to require careful consideration before allowing their children to view it,” Graves said. “Once advised, many parents may take their kids to see an R-rated film. School districts, similarly, handle the determination of showing movies on a case-by-case basis and have their own guidelines for parental approval.”